Remember that BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico back in 2010? If we believe the commercials the corporation has been running fairly regularly on news channels, it may be easy to convince ourselves that despite the millions of gallons of crude and dispersents dumped, that everything is honky dory in the water.

Evidently, it's not. A new study from the journal Environmental Health Perspectives reveals:

... the 2010 BP Gulf oil disaster resulted in widespread contamination of Gulf Coast seafood with toxic components from crude oil.1 In fact, levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in shrimp were found to exceed the FDA’s established thresholds for allowable levels [levels of concern (LOCs)] for pregnant women in up to 53% of Gulf shrimp sampled.

So, when eating seafood, you may want to pass on the gulf shrimp, unless tumor laden, eyeless shrimp sounds like a healthy choice to you.

Proponents of this policy are trying to paint this as a picture of the city trying to shut down predatory, bulletproof plexiglass cash wrap liquor stores.

In the greater Hampden-area (including Medfield and Woodberry), here are the 3 stores the city has targeted for shutting down - none of them are of the bulletproof plexiglass cashwrap variety.

Roland Park Liquors (Roland Ave.) - Next to the Wine Source, my favorite North Baltimore liquor store. In a limited amount of space, they fit in a good variety of interesting beer, wine and spirits.

The Wine Underground (Evans Chapel Rd.) - One of the more popular liquor stores in the neighborhood. Regularly hosts wine-tastings.

JT's (Falls Rd.) - JT's could be prettier, but it's not just a liquor store, it's also a market and carryout, so it provides the neighborhood with food. In fact, I've ordered lunch from them several times - and those lunches were salads.

If you haven't already done so, please contact your city council representative and urge them to continue to honor the decades old grandfather clause that allows these liquor stores to exist in our community.

According to The Business Insider, corporate profits are at an all-time high and wages are at an all-time low.

Last year, corporations made a record profit of $824 billion - the highest profit in the history of humankind.

So keep this in mind when:1. You hear Republicans bemoan Obama's anti-business practices2. You hear Republicans whine that that government (regulation) has to get out of the way of job creators (the rich)

Also, nothing should more clearly illustrate the importance of unions and higher wages for the working class.

If corporations are making the highest profits in the history of mankind, why are we living in an era when local governments are bankrupt?

Why are public schools suffering? Why are conservative leaders telling us we can't afford public services and social safety nets when corporations are making the highest profits they ever have in the history of humanity?

Why, in Baltimore, are we being told we can't afford rec centers and fire departments?

Because they don't pay their fair share of taxes, and they don't pay just wages. And it's our economic activity, not theirs, that funds our communities.

At some point, we are going to begin to recognize that corporations, as they function in the US today, are parasitic. That the aren't acting in the public interest - they are only acting in the interest of a select few - at the expense of everyone else.

According to a new Gallup poll, Only 1 in 3 Americans can correctly identify President Barack Obama as a Christian. 44% of Americans say they don't know his religion.11% of Americans think Obama is a Muslim.18% of Republicans believe Obama is a Musliam.

Of course, religion really shouldn't matter when it comes to electing representatives, but to many Americans it does, and they're getting it wrong.

Republican Rep. Peter King (NY) is the House Homeland Security Chairman. And he believes 90% of terrorist acts in the US are carried out by Muslims:

What I am very concerned about is that while the overwhelming majority of Muslims are good people, the fact is even though Muslims are 1 percent of the population, almost 90 percent of the terrorist crimes are carried out by the Muslim community. And there are not enough people in the community willing to step forward and speak out against this and cooperate with law enforcement.

However, the facts show:right wing extremists are responsible for 56% of terrorist attacks in the US

ecoterrorists are responsible for 30% of terrorist acts in the US

Islamic extremists are reponsible for 12% of terrorist acts in the US

And Muslim Americans are 89% more likely to reject violence (higher than any other US religious group)